Was anyone else here a teensy, weensy bit disappointed that this exhibition was not going to be about the brilliant, now-cancelled BBC show of the same name? The one where good old bloke Sam Tyler awakens from a coma to discover he's living in 1973, doomed to roam London thenafter away from his family, friends and home in the 21st century? It's a 1973 where shiny outfits and political incorrectness rule, and the absence of cell phones and cable TV are deeply felt.

To be sure: both the exhibition and the TV show took their name from the David Bowie song, itself replete with obscure and hackneyed pop culture references.

I'll admit that I'm ashamed I immediately thought of Sam Tyler, David Bowie and Guy Noir, Private Eye instead of Carl Sagan or even Gauguin when it came to the title of this exhibition and its stated themes of wonder in the universe and "life's persistent questions."

When did this start happening? When did our lives--on Mars, Earth, in Eighty Four, PA--become filled with pop culture sound bytes and oblique parallels, catchphrases and such? Is our collective life the richer for having iPods, iPhones, IMs, TiVO, Roombas, Blackberrys, ear buds? When did we start considering media-made celebrities worthy of our water cooler natterings and dinner conversation?

Whatever Life on Mars evokes, it will be a good jumping-off point to gauge how embedded pop culture has become in the everyday course of life on earth. After all: aren't we all curators and exhibitors of our own little cultural shows--from the clothes we wear to the pithy sayings we pronounce, to the gadgets and toys and cars we cling to?

See you in space!